Iran Signs Deal with Russia for Two New Nuclear Reactors

Russia on Tuesday signed a deal with Iran to build two new nuclear reactors and agreed to expand the total number of Russian reactors in the country to eight, the state nuclear agency Rosatom said.

A series of agreements, signed during a visit to Moscow by Iran’s nuclear program chief Ali Akbar Salehi, includes a contract for two new reactors at the existing Russia-built Bushehr plant.

The so-called Bushehr Phase II consists of two reactors at the same Persian Gulf coast site as the existing 1,000 megawatt reactor Russia launched last year.

The countries also agreed to expand the total number of reactors in Bushehr to four, and construct “four similar power units on another site in Iran,” the location of which is yet to be provided by Tehran, Rosatom said in a statement.

The project “will be under the IAEA safeguards and fully meet the nuclear nonproliferation regime,” Rosatom said. Nuclear fuel will be produced in Russia and spent fuel returned to Russia.

However, the countries “plan to go into the issue of economic expediency and feasibility of fabricating fuel rod components in Iran, which will be used at these power units,” it said.

Iran plans to build 20 more nuclear plants in the future, including four in Bushehr, to decrease its dependence on oil and gas.